Cyanogen

Update: A previous version of this article stated that Microsoft was investing $70 million, but it seems more likely that the company is only part of that total number. It’s not known how much Microsoft is investing. Feel free to read WSJ’s ambiguous wording below…

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Microsoft plans to take part in a $70 million investment round in Cyanogen, a company that was once just a group of modders working on a variant of Android. Now, Cyanogen has bigger ambitions. “We’re going to take Android away from Google,” said on the record recently by Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen’s CEO.

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OnePlus is today teasing an announcement for tomorrow with the tagline “Back to Basics,” but no one really has any idea what the company plans to tell us about. Interestingly, the teaser image that OnePlus posted across its social media profiles (seen above) definitely makes reference to the Breaking Bad title screen, but it’s not clear yet what it might mean.

Also, updated models of the OnePlus One without Cyanogen branding on their back covers have begun shipping…

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OnePlus is celebrating it’s first anniversary by making its OnePlus One ‘flagship killer’ smartphone available without the invitation you’ve so far needed to order one. Both the white 16GB and black 64GB models are available.

The company is also offering 11% of all accessories, a prize draw to win a 64GB model and a competition to name its forthcoming custom ROM in which you can win both a phone and a trip to Hong Kong to meet the team.

Yesterday’s ‘Go further’ teaser, however, turned out to be rather unexciting … 
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CyanogenMod—which is probably the most well-known fork of Android—lets users customize their phone beyond what Google intends, and touts having as many as 12 million active installs across a variety of devices. But the company behind the famed alternative operating system is reportedly getting a lot of attention, notably from companies that would consider themselves some of Google’s biggest rivals.

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Koushik Dutta, Cyanogen Inc co-founder and developer of the AllCast app that allows Chromecast streaming of local photos and video from your phone or tablet, has posted the above meme graphic hinting at the ability to mirror the entire Android screen to a TV.

Dutta had previously suggested that the functionality might be coming to Android officially … 
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A big round of applause to the folks at Oppo and Cyanogen Inc as the Oppo N1 becomes the first Google-approved CyanogenMod phone. The announcement came yesterday via Google Groups as the device was certified to have passed through Google’s CTS and CDD certification programs which is a major milestone for everyone working on this project.

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Cyanogen Inc, the parent company of the Android-famous CyanogenMod has raised an additional $22 million dollars in Series B funding. The money comes on top of the $7 million the company raised earlier this year as it announced three months ago it had incorporated.

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There’s no doubting that CyanogenMod is one of the most well-known custom ROMs available, with it being available for a plethora of new and old devices. Last month, the CyanogenMod team announced that it had raised $7 million in funding and was looking into a direct-to-consumer route for installing the ROM. Today, Cyanogen Inc. has announced (via Droid Life) the CyanogenMod Installer. This app, available on Google Play now, allows users to install the custom ROM incredibly easily.

Once the app is downloaded to one of the compatible devices (list here), it will pair to companion computer software in order to perform the ROM flash. All the user must do is plug their device into the computer and simply hit “start.” The process will wipe everything from the device and install the latest CyanogenMod build. Both the app and computer software are free to download.

As far as device compatibility goes, Cyanogen says that it “will continue to work on supporting additional devices beyond the initial set,” but that for the moment, the software supports “the majority of flagship models currently on the market.”

This is an incredible feat for a company that only received funding last month. CyanogenMod Installer will allow for people who are not technologically-inclined to easily install the latest version of Android to their device.

You can download the app from the Play Store now, and the computer software from Cyanogen’s website.

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